Eastern Bank Takes Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,812 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,050,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $238,122,000. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $161,946,000 after buying an additional 848,481 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2,531.6% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 450,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $85,932,000 after buying an additional 433,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $287,337,000 after buying an additional 426,399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.29.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total value of $538,372.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,753,523.26. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $1,155,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,137,724. The trade was a 26.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262. 8.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $195.59 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $157.20 and a fifty-two week high of $213.50. The firm has a market cap of $21.49 billion, a PE ratio of 22.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s fifty day moving average is $197.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 8.99%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.23 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 6th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.31%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.